Down Goes Duke
- Thread starter 70boiler
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Watched the 2nd half of that game. Duke just doesn't play defense... Bagley is crazy good though.
Duke, Xavier, UNC, Arizona, TX AM, Arkansas, OK, TCO, Kentucky... all ranked, all lost today. Tennessee but Kentucky.
I'm beginning to think that the B1G isn't so weak after all.
I don't see how teams losing in conference makes the B1G look any tougher. B1G has fewer ranked teams, and fewer good teams that can beat them. Makes the others look tougher if anything.
Because it's all relative. It's still too early to say which conferences are better. At this point there does not appear to be a dominant conference, regardless of which the polls say. Every single week we are seeing the ranked teams being beaten by unranked opponents. I can't imagine how that makes the ranked teams look tougher.
all of those losses were on the road or better ranked opponent too, except ark and a&m. and a&m has had numerous issues/player suspensions
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So I guess MSU losing to unranked OSU makes the B1G look bad.
???
That's a strange interpretation of what I said. My point was that all of these ranked teams losing every week tells me that no one, especially the pollsters, have sorted out who are the top teams and top conferences. The news of the death of the Big Ten may be premature.
Maybe you were responding to someone else?
We're in conference play now. The relative strength of the conferences has been determined. You were talking about all these ranked teams losing. Well they are losing to teams in their own conference. How does that make their conference weaker? How will B1G teams beating each other make the conference look stronger? The B1G is down this year. It's settled and it's ok to admit. Doesn't mean a couple teams can't make nice runs in the tourney.
The ranked teams have been losing in and out of conference from the beginning of the season. This isn't something that started this week.
I have been watching Big Ten basketball for decades and most years have heard that the Big Ten is down. You say the B1G is down and "it's settled". OK. Nothing personal, but I think I'll watch the rest of the year and let the teams decide.
I'd disagree that "most years" you hear the Big Ten is down. Someone not liking the "Big Ten style" is not the same as saying its down (which I agree that the style points is a broad generalization - not to mention UNC has been held under 50 points twice this season...).
Just looking at the last couple years...
2016-17: 3 ranked, 2 receiving votes
2015-16: 5 ranked, 2 receiving votes
2017-18 currently: 2 ranked, 0 receiving votes
That's a drop off.
I'm not sure why you are getting emotional about this. I see you calling other people out in other threads because they don't accept your "fact" that the B1G is dead. If people enjoying the season and letting the teams play bothers you, maybe you should ask yourself why it is so important to you. How would your life improve if everyone accepted your view that "it's setteled", which seems to be so important to you?
The term was used last year simply because Purdue was going to win it. To me that is why you have to wait until tourney time and see how the B1G does against other conferences.
Emotional? loool. Project much?
1. I never said the B1G is dead. Needing to misrepresent my position to make your point isn't a good look.
2. I never said people shouldn't enjoy the season or let teams play. See #1.
3. I didn't call anyone out, I indicated support for someone who made the same point I did.
4. You do you, doesn't bother me in the least.
5. But think about this: why is your identity so tied to how good the B1G is at bball, and how it is perceived by others.
You need to check yourself. You aren’t special enough to “settle” anything. You are entitled to an opinion. But we all know what opinions are like.
And personally I think OSU and Michigan are highly underrated and talented enough to be top 25.
I'm not sure about that? Purdue fans like to play the victim card a lot - people say the Big Ten is down whenever Purdue is good, Purdue can't get a high ranking because we only made the Sweet 16 last year, we aren't respected so we can't get into the top 10 - none of it is on the merits true.
Look at all of this clamoring for a top 10 ranking and how nobody respects Purdue and we'll never get in the Top 10 cause we're Purdue - well, now we're #5.
I wouldn't take broader statements and make them all about Purdue so much - not you personally, just this forum overall.
The final AP poll last season had only 3 B1G teams in the top 25 and the highest was Purdue at 15.
I would be willling to bet there are 3 teams in the final 2018 poll and that at least one of them will be higher than 15. That’s not a drop off.
I think the point is that the "media" has determined that the Big10 is down, therefore, no matter who beats who within conference, it can really only hurt the top teams. (ie - Iowa beating us isn't going to get them ranked, but it might get us unranked)
I think it's still not comparable overall depth-wise. There's a lot more bad Big Ten teams this year than last, would you agree with that? So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out - less competition in conference season can inflate the wins a team gets in conference. When it comes to NCAA Tournament selection, it'll be interesting to see how that's handled.
Ohio State is a wildcard because they've had flashes of greatness. But they also don't have a lot of depth - who knows how they go through a full season.
Minnesota seems to have had a drop-off with their recent developments. What happens immediately after that doesn't necessarily reflect the rest of their season though.
Overall, every season is different in its own unique ways. The two best teams in the Big Ten are better teams than the two best in the Big Ten last year. However, I think there's more "bad" teams this year and some of the mid-level teams don't seem as solid.
I didn't settle it. The teams did. On the court. They'll have another chance in the tournament. Until then I'd like to hear how the conference will prove that it's not "down" by only playing and beating each other.
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